When Jack first saw the dead man, his instinct was to spit and stare. The man was naked, save for a chrome-plated 1911 Colt pistol clutched in his right hand. His body was sagging into the moss, his back leaning against a downed tree. His clothes were folded neatly it besides him. Most of the top of his skull was missing: what the bullet hadn't taken with it, scavengers had in the night. Jack exhaled slowly, his breath hung in the thin morning air. The swamp around him was quiet and cold. He shifted his rifle by its butt and knelt beside the man. The man's skin was a gray and pallid like a stormy dawn. Jack pulled a leather pouch of shag tobacco from his pocket and started to roll himself a cigarette.
"You want one?" He motioned toward the man. "Don't smoke, huh? Good for you keeping healthy and all." Jack lit his cigarette and clenched it in his teeth. He grabbed the man's pants. He patted them for a wallet and pulled a brown leather billfold from the back right pocket. Flipping through it quickly, Jack fought the urge to look for an ID. There was no money in it. He stuffed the wallet back into the pants pocket, folded them neatly and replaced them on the log. He reached for the pistol. It was locked in the man's grip. Jack pried the index finger off the trigger, caught a whiff of the man's smell and tumbled backward. Sticks broke and the thicket opened. Paul Barnwell, stepped into the clearing ten feet to Jack's left. He was shorter than Jack, with blond hair and features looking ten years younger than his actual age of 25 .
"Jesus." Paul coughed out, staring at the dead man. "Thought we were supposed to meet down by the river." Paul said as he stepped toward Jack and put his hand out.
"I got hung up here" Jack took it and stood up. He dusted moss off his pants. The two men were still for a minute, save for their eyes scouring the dead.
" Well, fuck....We got to get somebody out here about this" Paul said, breaking the silence of the marsh.
" Can't" Jack flicked his cigarette out and after glancing at again, walked over, picked it up and pocketed the roach. "You know we're poaching out here, we'll have a lot of explaining to do, and we're trespassing this far east." Jack made eye contact with Paul and then looked back at the dead man. "You ever seen him before?"
Paul shook his head. Jack handed him the bag of tobacco and matches. Paul rolled himself a cigarette,
"We can't just leave him out here." Paul said, licking the glue of the cigarette paper. "I mean, I wouldn't want to be left out here, I'm sure he had family".
"We can, and we will. If he wanted to be found, why do it way out here, why not just in his bathtub" Jack grabbed the bag of tobacco from Paul and started rolling up another cigarette. "And, I want that gun." and after saying so, he walked over to the dead man, dramatically took a breath and knelt beside him. He began where he left off, prying the fingers off the grip. The pinky finger was clenched tight around the grip. The skin was clammy and slick. Jack looked down at the man's shriveled penis, coughed out his breath and refused to take one in. Finally the gun came free, its weight surprised Jack and it puzzled him why someone would bring a full clip to shoot themselves. Then again, he thought, maybe some people don't have beginner's luck. He popped the clip from the gun and ejected the chambered round.
"Put it back. Now." Paul said quietly. " Put it back where it was. When we get back, I'm gonna tell somebody." He took a step toward Jack. "Give it to me. I'm gonna put it back." He stood with his hand out and took a drag on his cigarette.
" And get us arrested for some pussy who couldn't hack it so he took the easy way out, no. Fuck that." Jack slid the clip back into the gun and chambered a round. The gun wasn't pointed at Paul, but the intention was clear.
"I'm just saying man. We need to tell somebody abo......"
"And I'm just saying that if you keep talking like that, I'm gonna put a bullet through your face. I say we leave him. If you really want, you can bury him where he fell, but nothing more." Jack tucked the gun into his belt. "Looks good don't it?" He smiled. Paul spit and flicked out the cherry from his cigarette, pocketing the roach before speaking.
" Well we've got some hunting to do." He looked up at the morning sky, dark with clouds like ghosts.
"It's gonna rain soon."
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